Portrait of a Family
by xAnonymityx
Summary: There were people, before Harry. They had lives, before Harry. They had a story, before Harry.
1. Spring Cleaning

Disclaimer: It's not mine.

**Chapter One- Spring Cleaning**

_--"The memory is sometimes so retentive, so serviceable, so obedient; at others, so bewildered and so weak; and at others again, so tyrannic, so beyond control"_

_-Jane Austen--_

Susan felt tired, worn, stiff, and weighed down.

Today was her thirty-first birthday.

She felt so...

Old.

Not bodily old- no, she had lived for years and years under the guise of old age. And this felt nothing like that. That felt relaxed, patient, laid back. This felt heavy. Her nephew was graduating tomorrow, and her sister wouldn't be there to see it. Just like she hadn't been there to see Susan graduate, just like she hadn't been there to see her best friend's funeral.

Because, she was never there. And she never would be again. Susan's sister was dead.

Susan shook her head, jerked out of her memories by the sound of a hollow metal clank followed by a considerable amount of cursing coming from the attic.

Her roommate, June, was attempting to clean out the attic, no easy feat in a house shared by two certified pack rats. Susan decided that, in order to avoid any further harm to either June or the house itself, she should go up and see what her roommate was up to. June wasn't exactly the most coordinated person in the world, and Susan didn't want her destroying any priceless family heirlooms.

She squeezed past the ladder in the hall that was waiting to be used to fix the light, and pulled herself up a narrow flight of rickety stairs, only stopping when she heard the telltale rhythmic clank of something falling down towards her. She bent down to pick up the cheap, touristy snow-globe that came to rest at her feet, and continued up the stairs.

She hid a snicker behind her hand when she rounded the top steps and looked at the sight before her. June, looking rather frazzled, was sitting on a stool with one leg missing, cobwebs in her hair, half-empty boxes surrounding her, with a metal rod in one hand and what used to be a card table sitting beside her at a cockeyed angle.

"I can fix it!" June said, determinedly, when she saw Susan's dubious expression. Susan smiled and rolled her eyes.

"Oh just throw the old thing out, anyway. It's not like we ever use it."

June seemed to realize something just then, and looked from the leg, to the table, and back to Susan, and burst out laughing.

"Oh, we're so bloody pathetic!" she howled, clutching at her side. Susan raised an eyebrow.

"Pathetic?"

June, who had just started to quiet down, began laughing again. She picked up the neatly polished wand laying by her side, and burst out, "Reparo!"

The leg immediately clicked back into place. Susan took one look at the table, and started laughing uncontrollably. She wasn't sure why. It really wasn't that terribly funny. Maybe she just needed a good laugh. Whatever the reason, she simply couldn't stop. Every time the laughter died down, she would take one look at June and burst out laughing, again. And it felt good.

Once their laughter had quieted down, due mostly to difficulty breathing, the women, both smiling, set to work going through the other boxes.

"Pictures in a box marked, 'Home, 1972. Susan and Lavinia'." June read off a label.

"Keep. I don't have many pictures of Livi- the older she got, the less she liked cameras" Susan said, smiling sadly.

"You know, you never told me about your childhood. Lavinia is your sister, right?"

"She was..." Susan hesitated for a moment, and then said, with conviction, "Yes, she was my sister."

"Was?"

"She died." Susan replied calmly.

June looked horrified. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry."

Susan sighed. "I've had about seventeen years to get used to it. It's fine. Really. Besides, I've lost other people too, that I miss just as much. I suppose I'm just becoming a bit jaded." She finished, smiling bitterly.

"Do you want to talk about it? I won't pry." June offered, very concerned for her friend.

"I wish I could, June. I just can't."

June accepted that, if a bit reluctantly, and began searching through another box.

"Hey... Suze... I know I said I wouldn't pry, but..."

She held up a picture of Susan as a teen, holding a baby and being hugged by a woman.

"But, Suze, why is there a picture of you with Lily and Harry Potter?"

"Lily was a family friend" Susan replied immediately, and it came out sounding extremely rehearsed. June inspected her friend carefully.

"I don't buy it."

"What? You can ask Dumbledore himself if you don't believe me." Susan snapped, sounding a bit flustered.

"Why would Dumbledore know about your family acquaintances?" June asked slowly, and then turned to dig through the box again.

"Don't!" Susan called out, and this clued June into action, who made a frantic grab at the box before Susan jumped towards her. She dodged Susan's groping arms and ran quickly down the spiral steps and into the bedroom, locked the door, and sat down with the box on her twin bed.

"June Elizabeth Edwards! Don't you dare! I'll blast down the door!"

"Your wand's in _here_!" June called out, out of breath. Susan seemed to realize this and swore profusely. June picked up the picture that had started this whole mess, and reached down, pulling out the first paper.

"_Before you is the written will and last testament of Lily Evans Potter, as of December Thirtieth, Nineteen Hundred and Seventy Nine. Verified by Gringotts Bank, London, on December Thirty-first, Nineteen Hundred and Seventy Nine._

_Recipients of assets are as follows: James Harold Potter, Harold James Potter, Petunia Dursley, Susan McIntyre, Albus Dumbledore, Remus John Lupin"_

June thought her eyes were going to burst out of her head. _Susan_ was mentioned among _Harry Potter_ and _Albus Dumbledore_ in _Lily Potter's_ will?

"_To Remus John Lupin, monetary and property assets consisting of a Number Four, Privet Drive, as well as 1/6 of the monetary assets contained under Lily Evans's name, both in wizarding and muggle currency, being held at Gringotts Bank in London._

_To Albus Dumbledore, property in the form of one book, titled One Hundred and One Knock-knock Jokes._

_To Susan McIntyre, monetary and property assets consisting of 1/6 of the monetary assets contained under Lily Evans's name, both in wizarding and muggle currency, being held at Gringotts Bank in London, as well as items of emotional value to be chosen by Susan, excluding property being given, and mentioned in this will, to any other recipient upon Lily Potter's request._

_To Petunia Dursley, property in the form of one galleon, one sickle, and one knut, a single dung-bomb, as well as 1/12 of the monetary assets contained under Lily Evans's name, in muggle currency, being held at Gringotts Bank in London, but only on the terms that Petunia Dursley swear to keep care of anything magical of Lily's bestowed upon her by inheritance, for the rest of her life._

_To Harold James Potter, all remaining assets belonging to Lily Potter, not taken by Susan or any other property mentioned in this will to be attained by other recipients at Lily Potter's request._

_To James Harold Potter, rights to keep anything he wishes, including anything mentioned in this will."_

June blinked.

"Why in Merlin's name did you get exclusive rights to Lily Potter's property?!" She yelled at the door. Susan groaned, and June heard her slide down the door and land, sitting, with a thump, on the floor.

"Family friend?" she said weakly.

"Bullshit!" June called, almost cheerfully, and picked up the next item. Exploding Snap Cards. She tossed them aside, and picked up the next thing. It was a piece of parchment with different kinds of handwriting on it.

.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨

"Rose? You there?"

"Yeah, Lil, but you know you're supposed to call me Susan. What if somebody reads this?"

"Who would read this?"

"..."

"Exactly."

"What are you doing this weekend?"

"Hogsmeade with the Gang"

"Oh, I forgot. I wish I could come."

"Next year, Rose, next year."

"I'm serious! You can't call me that! No one here is supposed to know that you're my..."

"Sister?"

"Lily! Anyway, a trip to Madame P's in order for the golden couple of Gryffindor?"

"James and I are NOT a couple! You've taken too many bludgers to the head."

"Lily and James, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G"

"You know, for being related to me, you're pretty thick sometimes."

"At least I'm not a bookworm cough you cough"

"I just like to read! And so do you, so don't give me that! I saw you reading my copy of To Kill a Mockingbird the other day."

"Well, I'm obligated to steal your stuff."

"But of course, that's what little sisters are for"

"Lily! Not here!"

"I am glad, though, that I found you. I love you, Rose"

"I... well... I love you too, Lil, but..."

"Sorry to get all sappy... now what were we talking about?"

.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.

June blinked, pinched her arm, and blinked again.

"WHO THE BLOODY HECK IS ROSE?"

June stood up, stomped over to the door, swung it open, and stood, arms crossed, staring at Susan.

"Me" she said quietly, hiding her face.

"YOU'RE SUSAN MCINTYRE! YOU ARE NOT ROSE! WHO IS ROSE?"

"Me" Susan repeated

"Why are you Rose?" June asked, stunned.

"You have to understand, I grew up as Susan."

"Suze, who the heck are you?"

"Rose Marie Evans"

"Evans? As in Lily?"

"Exactly. Lily, my big sister."

"But... you're... Susan" June finished lamely, and slid down the wall next to Susan.

"It really all started when Lily got her letter."

.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨

**A/N- Well, there you have it! The first chapter! First three people to review (nicely) get mentioned in the story!**

**:D - Laura**

**P.S.- the more reviews I get, the faster I'll upload. Really, I swear.**


	2. Yeah, Lil

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, blah, blah, blah. I'm not making any money off of this, blah, blah, blah. I'm not associated with Jo Rowling, Scholastic, Arthur A. Levine Books, blah, blah, blah.

Blah.

**Chapter Two- Yeah, Lil**

"_Life is nothing without friendship"  
-Cicero_

Susan ran over, once more, in her head, the names of Lily's friends, the people that were coming to stay with her and her family for the next two weeks. Not that she really cared who they were, herself, but she knew Lily would like it if she knew who they were, and Susan would do almost anything to get Lily's approval. Her cousin was the closest thing to a hero that Susan had. Lily was older, pretty, smart, and, to top it all off, a _witch_.

If that wasn't cool, Susan didn't know what was.

So, with all these marvelous things to her name, Lily had become Susan's role model, the person she looked up to. And Susan would do anything to make her proud, including learning all these ridiculous names before tomorrow morning. Susan looked at Lily's letter again.

_Once more, Aunt Lucy, I can't thank you enough for letting my friends and me stay at your house this summer. I know it's a big responsibility, but I promise we won't be in your way too much. There will be eight or nine of us, including myself. The other kids are Melinda and Patricia Potter; they're twins, Karen Weasley, and Audrey Bolton. Also, when I invited Remus, I didn't want him to feel alone, so I also invited a few of his guy-friends; I hope you don't mind. James Potter, he's the cousin of Melinda and Patricia, along with his friend, Sirius Black, are coming too. Peter Pettigrew may be riding along as well, but that depends on if his sister has her baby before we leave. If not, he's staying in England so he can be there for that occasion._

_xo-_

_Lily-flower_

Susan blinked. Patricia, Karen, Peter, and James, she could remember. She bit her lip and looked back up at the letter.

"Melinda, Melinda, Melinda, I can remember that, Melinda, Melinda..." She repeated to herself.

Melinda and Patricia, Audrey, and Karen. Melinda and Patricia, Audrey, and Karen.

She moved on to the boys' names.

James and Peter, she could remember easily. Remus, she had known since she was very little; so the only one she had trouble with was Sirius.

_S-i-r-i-u-s. I wonder how you say that. Is it like "serious", or is it like, "Sur-eye-us"_, she wondered.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a car door banging shut. She looked over to the driveway and saw her sister, Lavinia, getting out of her truck, holding two very large bags of groceries. She looked at Susan and nodded towards the truck pointedly. Susan put the letter down and ran down to the truck, picked up a large bag of groceries, and took it inside. Her mother was already putting away the first bunch of groceries that Livi had brought in, and Susan asked, "Mom? Can I go with you to pick Lily up from the airport?"

Lucy smiled. "Sure, honey. Just remember, you'll have to wake up early. Their plane arrives at 6:30."

Susan grinned. Lily would be here in less than 24 hours!

.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨

"Susan, get up." A gentle voice was saying, a hand on her shoulder.

"mmph." She groaned, and pulled the blankets up over her head.

"Susan, Lily's going to be here soon."

Susan pulled the blankets down from over her face, opened one eye, and looked at the clock. 5:00. The words rang in her head.

"_Lily's going to be here soon."_

Susan grinned and sat up in her bed. Her mother smiled. It worked every time.

.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.

Like any excited ten year old would, Susan chattered relentlessly on the way to the airport.

"Do you think Lily will like my new kitten? I think Lily's eyes are pretty. Lily taught me how to cook noodles. Can I cook noodles for her tonight to show her how good I've gotten? What are her friends like? Are they all like Remus? I like Remus. But not as much as I like Lily. I want to see Hogwarts some day. Do you think Lily would be allowed to show me, even though I'm not a witch like her? Why don't Lily and Livi get along? Lily's fifteen now, you know. I wonder what I'll be like when I'm fifteen. Do you think I'll be like Lily?"

Lucy smiled as Susan rambled from the backseat. She knew that her daughter absolutely adored everything about her older cousin. And, she figured, since Lily was a good girl, there was nothing wrong with that.

.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.

Lily put down her book. She just couldn't concentrate for some reason. She frowned. Perhaps it was the turbulent motion of the small plane they were on. Or, maybe it was due to her massive headache. She turned to the boy who was half-asleep beside her.

"Remus?"

"Yeah, Lil?"

"It's too bad that Peter couldn't come"

"Yeah, Lil."

"I mean, I think he really would enjoy this."

"Yeah, Lil"

"You know what I just thought of?"

"Yeah, Lil?"

"Well, we both know that Lavinia has a massive crush on you."

"Yeah, Lil."

"Won't it be interesting, now that your girlfriend's coming with you?"

He frowned, his eyes still closed.

"I didn't think of that"

"Of course you didn't," Lily responded matter-of-factly, "It's my job to think of things like that"

"You don't think that Livi will chase Karen out with a stick, do you?"

"A big stick. With spikes." Lily said matter-of-factly.

Remus groaned.

"Why me?"

Lily grinned mischievously. "Why, because, you're so bloody brilliant, Remmy. I mean, you're just the hottest thing since fire." She imitated in a flaky voice.

"Isn't he just?" James asked in falsetto, sticking his head over the shoulder of Lily's seat.

"James, stop flirting with my boyfriend!" Karen admonished from the other side of the small plane.

"Caught me in the act" He said dryly, and turned back to Melinda, who was sitting next to him.

"These people are positively dry. No fun at all." He complained, slumping back in his seat.

"Gryffindors" She explained, rolling her eyes.

James sighed. "Lindy, you're a Gryffindor"

"I know, isn't it terrible? And, my name's not Lindy, Linda, Mel, or Lynn. It's Melinda. _Mel-in-da_." She emphasized, picking at her fingernail.

"Exactly" James said, without missing a beat.

Halfway across the plane, Sirius was involved in a quiet conversation with Patricia.

"Ten galleons says they hook up before Christmas." Sirius whispered.

"That's the exact same thing you said in third year. I still say it'll take them well into sixth year. I mean, in order to get together with Lily, Remus would have to break up with Karen, and I don't see that happening for a while."

"I'll take those odds. Ten galleons. Christmas. Remus and Lily. You wait and see."

"Fine. Deal." Trisha nodded, shaking Sirius's hand.

.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨

"And then I can show her my new sheets- the ones with the unicorns on them. Lily's seen unicorns before. Did you know that? I bet they're really pretty. Do you think they're shiny?"

Lucy smiled wistfully. "I bet they are a white so pure, it almost hurts your eyes to look at them. And their horns are the color of the stars, and swirled. Their manes and tails are fine, and silver, and they look like spun glass. And when you watch them move, it's like watching water flow, because they're so graceful. Their eyes are big, round, and black, and when they look at you, it's like they're staring into your soul. They make you feel so flawed, so imperfect, by comparison."

She glanced in the rear-view mirror at Susan, who was hanging on her every word.

"Of course, I suppose you'll just have to ask Lily." She said lightly, smiling softly and drumming her fingers on the steering wheel.

"It's been so long since I've seen her. I wonder if she got any taller. I did. Maybe I'll be just as tall as she is, now..."

.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨

"Twenty minutes 'till landing" Lily said, checking her watch.

"So, these cousins of yours... are they hot?" Sirius asked innocently.

Lily stared at Sirius. "Well, one of them is busy getting ready to go back to college, so you'll probably never get to meet her, and the second one's ten. You're almost seventeen. So, unless you want to go to jail, no."

"Yeah, Sirius. Keep it in your pants." Melinda said, still picking at that nail.

An old lady sitting across from Lily and Remus looked scandalized. James snickered. Sirius looked unaffected.

"A University girl, you say?"

"Sirius!"

.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨

**Okay, I was going to wait for three reviews, but since I didn't get them (blush) I just decided to post ch.2 anyway.**

**Next Chapter: Susan is awed as the Hogwarts Gang wreaks havoc on Massachusetts. Lavinia acts strangely, and Lily learns more about her Aunt Lucy's past.**


	3. The Unexpected

Disclaimer: I am JKR! I own Harry Potter! I rule the wor.... Wait, no, I don't.   
This chapter is dedicated to Callie and Socra, 'cause they rock. :D 

...

Chapter Three- The Unexpected 

"_Do you believe in magic in a young girl's heart?"_

_-The Lovin' Spoonful_

"Lily!" Susan cried happily, running to the gate where Lily had just entered the airport. She smothered her cousin in a hug, smiling like the sun.

Lily laughed and put her one free arm around Susan (the other was holding a large duffel bag).

"Hey Sue! Aunt Lucy!" Lily exclaimed, hugging her aunt, and then turning around to face the group of uncomfortable-looking teens behind her. Well, with the exception of Remus, who was now taking his turn hugging Lucy and Susan. Remus, Lily's best friend and neighbor, had been visiting the McIntyres with Lily every year, earning him a "son they never had" place in their house.

"Guys, this is Susan and Aunt Lucy"

She turned then to her cousin and aunt, "Suze, Aunt Luce, this is Karen Weasley," she pointed towards a small girl with a round face and brown pigtails, who smiled and nodded politely,

"James, Melinda, and Patricia Potter," she motioned to a group of similar-looking tall, thin, black-haired teens,

"Audrey, and Sirius." She finished, pointing at a blonde girl and another black-haired boy.

"Pleasure to meet you all." Lucy said warmly, smiling, "The car's this way- do you all have your luggage with you?"

Everyone nodded, signaling that they did, indeed, have their luggage, and so they began to walk towards the parking lot.

"Lily, did you see any more unicorns this year?" Susan asked, bouncing up and down with excitement.

Lily looked startled, and quickly shushed Susan. "Suze, you can't talk about that kind of thing in public!" she reprimanded quietly.

They got to the van, threw their bags in the truck, and began to pile in.

The only problem was, there were ten people, and this was a seven-seat van.

"Right." Lily said slowly.

"Oh, don't worry, we'll be taking back roads, so we won't be going fast. Not everyone needs a seat-belt." Lucy explained. The group of teenagers looked around at each other for a few minutes, before James said, "Well, two people can sit on the floor next to the door, once we shut it."

"I will!" Sirius volunteered.

"I can, too" Lily said.

"Which leaves one extra person," James reasoned.

"Oh, you're so _spectacular_ at math!" Lily exclaimed, her voice dripping in syrupy-sweetness.

"Melinda and I can share a seat." Patricia volunteered.

That settled, they all climbed back into the van, Susan sitting up front with her mother, and the eight teens in the back. The car ride back to the McIntyres' farm started out peacefully enough, but soon, the energy-ridden kids started getting louder. And happier. And gigglier. And louder, again. By the time they pulled into the long driveway of Susan's home, one could barely hear the radio over the cacophony. Susan was grinning.

This is going to be so much fun. They're ALL witches and wizards! And they're all so cool! Lily has so many friends! I wonder if I'll ever have that many friends. I can show them all the cool stuff in the attic, and...

"We're home!" Lucy called, as the van pulled to a stop. The door slid open and the group tumbled out, shouting and laughing.

"Okay, everyone listen up!" Lucy announced, and the group quieted down, "Here are my rules. Quiet time is from 11:00 pm to 7:00 am. That means no cars, no loud music, and no yelling near the main house. Breakfast is optional, but we eat dinner together. Everybody got it?"

Most of them nodded, but a few (namely, James and Sirius) were busy distracting each other with a frog that they had picked up off the ground.

"There are three bedrooms in the guest house, with two twin beds in each, plus, several sofas that are usually a better night's sleep than the beds themselves. That should leave you with plenty of room."

"I call the room with the bay window!" Remus called.

"Not if I get there first!" Trisha exclaimed, and started running towards the guesthouse, sitting on a hill about a half of a mile away from the main house.

"I can't believe they're running the whole way there, with _suitcases_" Lily commented, sighing, and beginning her trek towards the house.

Fifteen minutes later, everyone had arrived, and the rooms were all taken. Remus and Trisha had decided to call a truce, and share the master suite, the best room in the house. James and Sirius had been the next to arrive, and had taken the next-best room, and Lily and Melinda were in the other room. Audrey and Karen, the last two to arrive, were in the living room, on two squashy red couches.

"We're the _guests_," Audrey complained, "Shouldn't _we_ get first choice of rooms? I think Lily and Remus should be on the couches."

Karen smiled slightly. That was such a perfectly _Audrey_ thing to say.

"Don't worry, Aud, I'm sure the couches are plenty comfortable. Besides, we get the TV."

"I guess"

...

The house was quiet for the next two hours, because jet lag had settled in on the occupants, and they had all fallen asleep soon after settling in. Sirius was the first person to wake up.

"I'm hungry," said Sirius, and James, who was still half-asleep, said, "Then cook something" as if it were the perfectly obvious answer.

Sirius seemed to consider it.

"No harm in trying, I guess. Where's the kitchen?"

James shrugged. "Dunno. Go find it."

Ten minutes later, Lily was lying in bed, awake, but with her eyes closed, when she heard Sirius' voice, exclaiming, "How big _is_ this bloody house?"

Her door swung open, revealing Sirius, with his arms crossed.

"Kitchen?"

"Down one floor, take a left, go through the dining room, turn right, and go through the swinging doors."

"Gotcha."

Five minutes later:

"I'm lost!"

Lily fought a grin and got up, and left her room, looking for Sirius. She found him in the parlor.

He sniffed. "It's not my fault. Whose guesthouse is this _big_ anyway?

"Well, first of all, it's not really as big as it looks," Lily said, leading Sirius to the kitchen, "The rooms are all small, because they were easier to heat that way, back when they built it, so there are a lot of rooms, which makes it seem bigger than it is. Second of all, it used to be the main house, but they had to do a lot of repairs on it- it was falling apart- so they figured they should just build a new house anyway, 'cause it was going to take them a couple years to fix this place, and that way, they could take their time."

"Oh. So, it wasn't _built_ to be a guest house" Sirius realized.

"Exactly," Lily said, and pulled him through a set of swinging doors, and into the kitchen.

"There. Cook." She said, sitting down on a stool.

Ten minutes later, Trisha found them chomping down on cereal.

"Cereal? For lunch?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's breakfast here, smart-aleck." Lily retorted, shoving the box and milk towards Trisha. She rolled her eyes and opened the fully-stocked fridge, started pulling things out, and turned the stove on.

"You can cook?" Sirius asked, amazed. He had known her since he was a baby, and somehow, he never knew that.

"No, I will not cook for you. Ever." She answered his question before it was asked, "I only cook for myself."

Audrey stumbled soon after, rubbing her eyes.

"Lily? Where is that little cousin of yours, anyway?" She asked, pouring herself a bowl of cereal.

"Oh, I expect she's up at the main house. Sleeping, maybe. Or reading."

...

Susan was screaming. Screaming bloody murder.

Her mother came running in, panicked. "Suze, are you ok? Suze..."

She stopped immediately when she saw what her daughter was staring at. Sitting in the middle of her bedroom floor was a creature.

It rather resembled a squirrel, but with a monkey's tail, and it had black fur and yellow eyes.

Then, the creature spoke, in a slightly high-pitched voice.

"I am here to extend an invitation to Susan McIntyre, to study at Elizabeth Conrad's School for young witches. Do you accept, decline, or wish to make an appointment with the Head of the school?"

The creature looked extremely bored.

Susan was on the verge of hyperventilating, and Lucy seemed to be thinking.

"Appointment, please" she said calmly. Susan turned to look at her mother.

"I'm... I'm a witch?" she stammered.

Lucy smiled at her daughter, but turned back to the creature.

"From now on, could we contact the school through mail? I don't wish for you to startle the rest of the family." Lucy said, in a business-like tone.

"As you wish. All information will be sent to this address, thank you for your time." The creature said, and disappeared with a pop.

"I can do magic?" Susan asked, eyes wide. Lucy nodded.

"I suppose you can, Susan. You're a witch."

"I gotta go tell Lily!" She exclaimed, and set off, running.

**Okay, if you, like myself, find that chapter a bit choppy, my deepest apologies. I'm not used to writing this much dialogue...**

**Chapter four should be up in less than a week!**

**Xo- Laura**


	4. He killed the kid!

**Disclaimer: Betcha you can guess.**

**This chapter is dedicated to JKR, because without her, I would have positively too much spare time, and nothing to fill it with.**

_Chapter Four- He killed the kid!_

"_The truth is rarely pure and never simple.__"_

_-Oscar Wilde_

Lily had flopped down in a most ungraceful way on the sofa and was about to turn on the TV, when she heard a noise outside the window. She turned around, stuck her nose against the glass, and looked down the hill to see where the noise was coming from. What she saw was Susan, running up the hill, full-force, screaming her name like a banshee. Thinking something might be wrong, Lily ran to the front door and pulled it open just as Susan reached the house.

"Suze? What's wrong? Is Aunt Lucy hurt?"

Susan's eyes were as wide as tennis balls, and she seemed to be hyperventilating a bit.

"Lily! I'm a witch!" she shouted, and ran headfirst into Lily, hugging her, nearly knocking her down with the force of the impact.

Lily looked amazed for a moment, but then she started to think, as Lily was prone to do in excess, especially in strange situations.

"How do you know, Suze? Aren't you only ten?"

Susan opened her mouth, but then closed it after a moment, with a concerned look on her face.

"I don't know, Lily. Mom just told me so."

Lily was very confused, and that wasn't something she was used to. At all. So, she decided to get some answers.

"I'll be right back, Suze. Get yourself a cookie from the kitchen; they're fresh- Trisha baked them just this morning" Lily said calmly, and when Susan had entered the house, she started walking down the hill to see what was going on.

¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.

James slurped the last of the tomato soup out of his bowl, shoved the remaining half of his grilled-cheese sandwich in his mouth, stood up, brushed the crumbs off of his shirt, and pushed his way through the swinging kitchen doors. Having just finished his lunch, he was in a hurry to go find Sirius so they could talk about their...

Idea -Yeah, that's it, idea-

That they had gotten when they first arrived at the farm. He lazily pushed against the doors, but found that they simply wouldn't open. He rubbed his eyes and tried again, but no avail. It was almost like the doors were pushing _back_. He tried one last time, this time deciding to tackle them with all his weight. He backed up about five feet, and started to run towards the doors. Right before he got to them, though, they swung open to reveal a small girl that he recognized as Susan on the other side, her eyes as wide as tennis balls. In the split second before they crashed, James tried to slow down, but it was no good- she was too close, and the smooth tile floor offered no traction whatsoever. He closed his eyes, and...

The next thing they knew, they were both on the floor in a tangle of limbs. James, scared to death that he was going to crush her, jumped up and away from Susan, who was lying on the floor spread-eagled, looking rather unconscious. James started hyperventilating.

"I killed the kid... I killed the kid... I killed the kid..."

Sirius, who had gotten tired of waiting for James, decided to go and find him. The first thing he saw when he rounded the corner was James, pacing erratically back and forth, tugging on the ends of his hair.

"I killed the kid... I killed the kid..."

Sirius was very concerned for his friend. Apparently, he had gone completely psycho, and was in desperate need of some help. Sirius started to walk towards him, until he put his foot down on something rather squishy. He looked down, just as he heard James squeak, to see his rather large foot smashing a tiny little hand. He yelped and jumped backwards.

"YOU KILLED THE KID!" he bellowed at James, who backed into a corner.

Patricia came in to see who was causing all the ruckus, took one look at the two boys and Susan, and high-tailed it to the main house.

.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨

Lily knocked quietly on her Aunt's bedroom door, even though it was open, because her mother had always taught her that that was proper manners. Lucy turned around from making her bed, saw Lily, and smiled.

"Lily, come on in." She smiled, and patted the bed next to her. Lily hopped on the edge of the bed next to Lucy, her feet dangling over the edge, even though she was seventeen. How she hated being short.

"Susan told me that she's a witch." Lily said, hoping that her aunt would realize the unspoken question.

Lucy sighed and fell back on the bed, blinking up at the ceiling. "Yes, we had an interesting visit from a Charil today. A rather cheeky one, at that." Lucy added, one side of her mouth twisting up into a smile.

"Except, she's only ten." Lily said slowly.

"Well, I was under the impression that things worked a little differently sometimes on opposite sides of the ocean. Perhaps the magic schools here start earlier." Lucy theorized. Lily bit her lip.

"Aunt Luce, how did you know what a Charil was?" Lily asked, now thoroughly puzzled. Lucy closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. Her niece always was just a tad _too_ smart.

"Well, Lily, I got top marks in Care of Magical Creatures class." Lucy said slowly, wondering if she was doing this the right way. She had never thought that _she_ would be the one to teach Lily about their family's heritage.

"Care of Mag... Hogwarts? Witch?" The words were just tumbling out of Lily's mouth without her consent, and she rather disliked it. She didn't like _not_ being in control.

"Yes, Lily. Our family was pureblood- not as old as the Malfoys or the like, but still a wizarding family. I went to Hogwarts when I was eleven, like everyone expected, but your mother never got her letter. That's when we knew for sure- she was a squib."

"But... why didn't anyone _tell_ me?" Lily demanded, her temper flaring. How dare her family keep something so important from her? From Susan? From all of them?

"Lily, you have to understand- the prejudices that exist in the wizarding world are... exstensive. I watched as your mother was ridiculed by the community, my friends, her friends, everyone. When we both married muggle men, we realized that the chances of our children, especially hers, had a great chance of being non-magical. So, we decided, we wouldn't tell them about magic, or Hogwarts, or any of it, until –_if_- they got their letters. That way, if they were non-magical, they wouldn't feel like they were missing anything, or like they were substandard. They would just be normal. They would think of magic as a special gift, not a right or a given."

"And Petunia, and Lavinia?" Lily asked, still working to sort things through in her head.

"Non-magical. Not surprising, since their fathers are muggle. But, you and Susan-"

"Our magical gene showed up. Which wasn't very likely in the first place, since the magic itself is extremely recessive. But 'Tunia and Livi still carry the gene, right?"

Lucy shrugged, not even bothering to try to comprehend that. "Honey, you know more about it than I do."

Lily was just about to ask the next question on her mind, when Trish stuck her head in the doorway, obviously out of breath.

"Sirius killed the kid." Was all she could manage.

.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨

As a consolation gift for Susan and a special treat for the Hogwarts gang, Lucy and her husband, Mike, decided to take the kids out to the county fair the next day. Sirius, James, and Trisha were the most excited, as they had never been to a muggle fair before, and absolutely couldn't wait to experience the phenomena known as "funnel cakes" and "cotton candy", as was apparent when they practically jumped out of the van in the parking lot, climbing over the rest of the people in the too-full van, anxious to be the first ones out, even if the car _was_ still moving.

"So, they just dump sugar into a fan, and it turns it into candy?" James asked Remus, making sure he had the right idea.

"YES already, James!"

"And then they wrap it around a piece of paper?"

"Yeeeees"

"And for those funnel cake things... they pour liquid into a pot, and it..."

"YES!" Lily exclaimed, rolling her eyes. They had explained the process to him about five times in the car, already.

"I want to try a chili-dog" Trisha said matter-of-factly.

"Ew" Audra said in response, wrinkling her nose.

"If you don't experience new things, you'll never grow." Trisha chided.

"You are what you eat" Melinda shot back.

"Play nice with the other kids, Lindy" James teased, jumping out of the way of Melinda's attacking hand.

"_Someone_ has a temper!" he clucked happily.

"He is _way_ too cheerful." Melinda grumbled, crossing her arms.

Sirius, Trisha, and James turned to each other and said at the exact same time, "Chin-up, apricot!"

Susan raised her eyebrows at looked at Lily questioningly. Lily shrugged.

"Oh, it's a Martin Miggs thing..." Remus explained, seeing the confusion. "A bit of an in-joke, really."

Susan grinned, bobbing her head, and stored the phrase in her mind for later use. If there was a magical in-joke out there, she definitely wanted to be a part of it. Maybe, someday, she would be laughing about Martin Miggs with Lily and her friends, instead of just watching them.

"Alright, admission's free on Student day, so you can just walk in those gates over there," Mike explained, pointing to a set of black metal gates. "We'll meet back at the car in-"He checked his watch, "five hours. Alright, scram!" He finished, shooing the kids into the fair with a smile. He wrapped an arm around his wife's waist as they walked into the fair together, already long behind the hoard of teenagers that had just run in the direction of the entrance. Lucy put her hand on her abdomen gently, smiling.

"I think we should tell Susan and Livi tonight." She said determinedly, looking up at Mike to see what he thought.

"It's up to you, Luce. If you want to do it tonight, that's fine with me." He said, glancing down at his wife's midsection and not being able to stop his wide smile.

"It's a boy this time, Luce. I can tell." He said with conviction.

"Oh is it, now? Because I seem to remember you saying that last time, oh, and the time before..."

"Brat" He teased, flicking a ringlet of her coppery hair. She stuck her tongue out at him, and they walked, laughing, into the park.

.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨.¨

**Okay, I think it's shorter than usual, but that just seemed like a perfect place to stop. Tell me what you think! What could I do better, what didn't work, etc. I'm never going to get better if I can't figure out what I can improve!**

**Many thanks to Socra, for giving me tips on the new WB system... (growls at WB, but grins at Socra)**

**And Callie, for faithfully reviewing every chapter, even though she doesn't have to. huggles**

**Next chapter: inside the fair. Trisha gets a sugar high, Sirius has an argument with a Carnie and Karen yells at the carousel.**

**Oh yes, and...**

**Charil: **_chair-ill_**. n. A very smart but ridiculously hard to tame small creature that is found in the Americas, as far north as southern Canada and as far south as Brazil. The official mode of communication of Elizabeth Conrad's School for Young Witches and other magical establishments in the region.**

**Xo- Laura**


	5. Without Supervision

**Disclaimer: Susan, Lavinia, Karen, Patricia, and Melinda are mine.**

**Everything else…**

**Isn't.**

**This chapter is dedicated to my dog, because he looks really cute right now.**

_Chapter Five-_ _Without Supervision_

_"When the character of a man is not clear to you, look at his friends"_

_-Japanese proverb_

As soon as they got in the gate, they had a problem.

"Come on, I see a sign for funnel cakes!" Patricia exclaimed, pointing to the left. She had gone about four feet in that direction when someone grabbed her arm, cutting off her route to the funnel cake stand. She turned around to see James, tugging her in the other direction.

"Cotton Candy!" He exclaimed, pulling her to the right. She pulled her hand away from him and turned around, going back towards the funnel cakes. Meanwhile, Melinda, Karen, and Audra were debating between the rides and the arcade. James was still tugging Patricia firmly along towards his cotton candy, Susan was hesitantly moving towards the horse show, and Sirius was eyeing the candy apples hungrily.

Lily personally agreed with James, and could have really used a decent pile of cotton candy at the moment, but she realized as she watched the emerging pandemonium that if she didn't bring about some order, no one would, and they'd be stuck here, debating, until the fair closed and they wouldn't have gotten anything done.

So, being the practical Lily that she was, she stepped in.

"Hey" She tried to get everyone's attention.

It didn't work.

"HEY!" She yelled, and everyone swiveled their heads around to look at her.

"Alright, we're all big boys and girls. We can handle ourselves. Let's just all split up, do what we want to do, and meet back here for the last hour before closing?"

Sirius looked at Patricia, who looked back at Lily, who glanced at Susan, who nodded to Remus, who shrugged at James, who grinned at Lily.

"Okay!" "Yeah" "Alright" "Sounds good" "Works for me" came the chorus of replies.

As it turned out, Patricia, Karen, and Sirius ran for the funnel cakes, Susan followed her cousin and James to the cotton candy vendor, and Melinda, Remus, Lavinia, and Audra decided to go on some rides while the lines were short. Suffice it to say that these groupings were not the best possible, and chaos ensued.

"I see it! Right there! Come ON! Do you want funnel cakes or DON'T you?" Patricia yelled to Karen and Sirius, who were still walking calmly towards the stand. "LOOK, there's no line! Let's GO! Time is of the essence, slowpokes! Vite! Vite!

Deciding that the other two were hopeless cases, she left them in the dust and ran towards the woman at the funnel cake stand full-speed ahead.

"What can I do ya for, hun?" The large woman asked, and Patricia noted, with horror, that her toady, pink-red face was decorated with a sizeable beard and moustache.

"What can I do ya for?" The woman asked loudly, now clearly annoyed. Patricia swallowed and tried to look away from the woman's face (if indeed she was a woman) but it proved near impossible.

"Um... I'd like a funnel cake, please" She said slowly, transfixed by the wobbling of the many hairy chins.

"Well, here I thought you wanted a sloppy joe" the woman said, in a voice that was a perfect mix of obnoxiousness and sarcasm.

"A sloppy who?" Patricia asked, tearing her eyes away from the landslide occurring beneath the mouth of the vendor-woman.

"A sloppy- eh, must be not from 'round these parts, is ya? That's be why you gots that _ack-sant_"

"I'm from Ashington, actually, on the east coast of England."

"Redcoat, huh." The woman noted, her eyes narrowing as she moved to make the funnel cake.

"Pardon?" Patricia asked, but was interrupted when Karen and Sirius came up behind her.

"Are they making it? Is it as weird as Lily told us it was?"

"I'm makin it now, yous should learn to wait awhile. Patient-ness's good for a body." The vender- well... vender-_person _replied, turning around.

Sirius made a noise that Patricia didn't think a human could make, a sort of cross between a gurgle and a yelp, and grabbed onto her arm in fear.

"What is _that_?" He asked, when she had turned around again to make the funnel cakes.

"I don't know, but I think it speaks" she whispered, as Karen placed her order and the vender-person yelled something incoherent about stress.

Meanwhile, halfway across the food area, James, Lily and her little cousin, along with Audra, were happily enjoying their cotton candy, which was served to them by a perfectly nice old vender-man who smiled and called them "good little kids"

"It's so _sticky_!" Audra complained, attempting to wipe her sugar-encrusted thumb on a napkin, but only succeeding in ripping said napkin in half.

"That's the point, Aud." Lily explained, "if it weren't so sticky, it wouldn't be as sugary, and the sugar's what makes it good"

James, who had long since finished all of his own, replied, "Sugar. Good." With a sort of glazed look and a large grin.

"James, snap out of it" Lily exclaimed, elbowing him. He stuck his tongue out at her in response. "Oh for goodness sake, James, you're fifteen!"

"He's just got a sugar high" Susan explained, licking her index finger happily. "It'll wear off in.. oh, say, four hours"

"That's marvelous. We're stuck with James the four-year old for four hours" Audra replied, sighing and throwing away the remainder of her cotton candy. "This stuff is just too much for me to handle. I'm going to find a bathroom in which to wash off my hands." She finished, and wandered off in the direction of the grandstands.

"That's marvelous. We're stuck with Audra the whiny brat for four hours" James mocked, stealing some of Lily's cotton candy with a flourish.

"Bad James! Sit!" Lily reprimanded jokingly, slapping his hand away from her cotton candy.

"Yes, mummy." James replied, sitting on his hands and sighing like a small child.

Susan inquired of Lily, "Is he really like that?"

"He's just joking; he likes to have fun" Lily explained, hoping sincerely that that really was the explanation for James's behavior.

Across the park, Remus was looking distinctively uncomfortable as Lavinia sat down next to him on a rather dubious looking ride called _The Tilt & Hurl_. She'd been clinging to him like a dog to a steak all day, and he really wasn't used to such sorts of attention. He really didn't understand why she liked him so much; she was pretty, older, and shallow, while he was completely the opposite, and shy to boot. They were like polar ends of a magnet, and no matter what she insisted, opposites did not attract.

"Isn't this exciting?" She inquired, smiling coyly.

Remus thought he was going to be sick already, and the ride hadn't even started yet.

"Yes. Very Exciting" he replied, smiling politely. Apparently she took this as an invitation, so she scooted closer.

"You know my girlfriend, Karen? She gave me this sweater for my birthday. I like my girlfriend. I like this sweater too, don't you?" He gibbered, his face turning bright red.

"I think it's old and frumpy." She replied, fingering the buttons.

_HELP!_ He screamed in his head. Luckily, someone seemed to be listening, because as soon as he thought it, a voice came on the ride's speaker system to inform them that the ride should be evacuated due to safety concerns.

"Wow and I thought wishes never came true" thought Remus as he stepped down off of the ride.

**A/N: Okay, I know what you're thinking. Holy crap that was bad. I know. I'm trying to force myself out of a writing block which NEVER ends up pretty for the poor story. Bear with me... in a few chapters I'm sure it'll be better. I DID have a reason to send them to the fair... but... 9/10 of the way through the chapter I discovered a huge plot hole so the trip to the fair is now completely frivolous. My apologies. Hope it was a fun ride.**


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